Conquering Cosplay: Jurassic Park

Cosplaying for the first time can be scary. I remember my first time, even though I was going to a relatively big convention that I’d been to before and knew for a fact that a ton of people Cosplayed, I still had this fear that everyone would look at me like I was the weirdo. Either that or I was afraid that my costuming skills would be critiqued, judged, and mocked. As it turns out I was very wrong, and I met a lot of really cool and enthusiastic people, but I still remember the fear and self-consciousness. The sad truth is that that feeling kept me from Cosplaying in public and on non-Halloween days for far longer than it should have. If you find yourself feeling that way now, I have two bits of advice for you: do not ever doubt yourself! Whatever character you are dreaming of being, you do it and I promise you will rock it. Second, if you really feel a lot of anxiety over the situation I’d like to stress how great group Cosplay can be as an introduction to the costuming world.

When you Cosplay in a group you will most likely immediately feel more comfortable. You’ll be surrounded by friends; therefore, the spotlight won’t necessarily be on you which is a huge bonus for the exceptionally awkward, like myself. Not to mention there are a lot of really fun group Cosplay ideas that we don’t see a whole lot of at conventions, many of which don’t require an intimidating amount of skill, which could potentially scare away a first timer. For this month’s edition of Conquering Cosplay I’d like to walk all you lovelies out there through a really easy and fun group Cosplay idea that is sure to impress on minimal time and money.

The crew from the original Jurassic Park.

This is one of my absolute favorites and one I’ve been dying to do for a while now, especially with Jurassic World right around the corner. One great thing about this group Cosplay is it is very customizable depending on your group size. You can make it work with just two people or even eight or ten people. Another benefit is that any and all of these costumes can be made with nothing more than your own clothes and/or a quick trip to the thrift store. This is a really good one for first timers or pros who just love the movies.

Dr. Alan Grant: All you need is a blue denim shirt, khaki pants, and a red bandana tied around your neck. For the extra details you should really try to find an awesome Indiana Jones-esque fedora like the one he had, a brown belt and watch, and some aviator sunglasses. A pair of brown hiking boots will complete the look.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: This is a really easy one: black pants, black shirt (preferably collared button down), black boots and a black leather coat. To really complete the look you must have sunglasses, to be worn inside and at all times, and a silver watch.

John Hammond: For this one you’ll need all white, a short sleeved white button down shirt, white pants and a straw fedora. The most important element of this costume is the cane, which I would recommend making yourself. You can sculpt the top amber piece out of translucent clay and you can actually buy bamboo poles from hardware stores.

Lex Murphy: Light denim jeans, brown boots, and a purple paisley print tank top – this one is pretty easy except that shirt may be hard to find. Be sure to tie your hair back in a braid too. If you want you can include the doofy baseball cap she is wearing in the beginning of the movie.

Tim Murphy: All you need is khaki shorts, a striped shirt (preferably white, orange and green), a short sleeved light blue or denim shirt and a blue bandana tied around your neck. Tim also has brown hiking boots and a brown belt.

Ray Arnold: Ray’s look kind of changes throughout the movie. At first he is put together with his Jurassic Park lab coat on top of a white with gray pinstripes collared shirt and a tie, with black dress pants and shoes. As time goes by he ditches the coat, undoes his tie and unbuttons hit shirt to reveal a white undershirt. You can really do any variation with this. Just be sure to include glasses if you can, and I’d recommend walking around with a FAKE cigarette to add a nice detail. You can even walk around with a severed arm if you want, as if yours has been ripped off. If it were me, I would totally do that.

Dennis Nedry: Ah yes, the man who ruined it all. Nedry wears a gray polo shirt, gray jacket and khaki pants when it all goes down at the park. This look can be easily substituted for the island garb he wears in the beginning if you prefer. All you need for that is an awesome Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants. Brown shoes and glasses will complete either look.

If you find yourself with a group larger than eight or if you just really want to go all out there are a few more characters you can include if you so desire. There’s Henry Wu (lab scientist in charge of breeding), Robert Muldoon (clever girl) and Donald Gennaro (the blood sucking lawyer).

There are numerous ways you can liven up this group Cosplay if you want to. The person being Lex can carry around a spoon with a fake piece of green jello on it, or a ladle to bang on the ground for distracting dinosaurs. Malcolm can walk around with his shirt unbuttoned as Jeff Goldblum did for a great part of the movie. Dennis Nedry can walk around with Dilophosaurus venom on his face. As I mentioned earlier Ray can walk around with his own severed arm. If you want you can even have a group member dress up as a dinosaur!

The Jurassic Park group is a great introduction to Cosplaying for first timers who are nervous or just not ready to make their own costume yet. All you need for any of these looks are khaki pants or shorts, brown boots and a lot of shirts with that super early 90’s flair. It’s a great way to get into Cosplaying without the anxiety because it is not hard look to pull off and people will love seeing you.

*Fun Fact: This article can easily be turned into a drinking game. Just drink every time you read the word “khaki”. Oh the 90’s…